'Felt like a year': Worshipper describes fear during gunman's deadly attack on Pittsburgh synagogue
Source: Associated Press
‘Felt like a year’: Worshipper describes fear during gunman’s deadly attack on Pittsburgh synagogue
By PETER SMITH
May 31, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — It was her brother’s active faith that inspired Carol Black to recommit as an adult to being a practicing Jew several years ago, and their shared commitment brought them to the Tree of Life synagogue on the October 2018 day it was attacked.
Testifying on the second day of the trial of the man who carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, Black told jurors Wednesday about how she and others in her New Light congregation heard loud noises as they started Sabbath services. They soon realized it was gunfire, so some of them hid in a storage room.
“I just remained calm. ... I thought by remaining calm, I would not give my position away,” she testified in the Pittsburgh federal courtroom.
Black, 71, recalled how she remained hidden even as she saw congregant Mel Wax, who had been hiding close to her, drop dead after the gunman shot him. Wax, 87, was hard of hearing and had opened the storage door, apparently believing the attack was over, she said. Black didn’t learn until later that her 65-year-old brother, Richard Gottfried, was among the 11 people killed in the attack.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-trial-robert-bowers-b15284991dc645ec97b58bc44421b6f9